I'm really pushing the clock here and I have one more yard sale to go to - I hear there's tons of fabric and vintage goodies!!! IF you don't see your comment don't fret all comments are moderated and it WILL be posted before the announcement!

Friday, May 29, 2009

There were gobs of bits of vintage lace, doilies, linen fabrics etc., all carefully folded INSIDE of tacky polyester fabrics.

This is just a hint of what I picked up, all at one sale, for fifteen dollars. The only downside is I'm going to have to put this stuff in a closet with my ozone machine - it smells like dryer sheets to which I'm very allergic. Most of the items like the millenary pieces are very fragile, still very usable for collage, and would probably not survive being washed.

This woman was an ace garage sale preparer!!! Very sly if you ask me, as I was taking items out of the bags all sorts of treasures started to appear. It's like she knew that these would be chosen ONLY by the right person. As I was looking around for more goodies, I had just grabbed a bag of millenary supplies, she asked me if I had looked at the other bags of fabric on the far table simply stating that everyone had passed them by. I took one peek and grinned from ear to ear and each bag was a mere 50 cents! Mother Lode!!!

Please remember to leave your email addy, or make sure it's in your blogger contacts so I can get ahold of you tomorrow, I'm clicking on some of the names and there's no contact info, I really don't want someone to miss out because I couldn't contact them! ~ Kimberly

May's fibery giveaway (found out it wasn't spelled give away) consists of natural dyed cotton and silk fabrics, acid dyed silk carrier rods, the hot pink carrier rod fibers were dyed with cochineal, and hand dyed yarn bundle and cotton pearl cotton threads. What you don't see are some extra goodies I'm tucking in with this bundle, in the same color palette of course.

What you have to do is post a comment AND you MUST have an email addy so that I can contact you! No I won't use your email addy for anything other than this giveaway! You can sign in as anonymous but please leave your addy in your comment ~

Names will be drawn out of a hat, I'll have John do that part, and tomorrow I will announce the winner and contact the winner via email at Noon Central Time (gives you time to comment and me time to go to garage sales).

Thursday, May 28, 2009

What my wet studio looks like at the moment! The pile on my screenprinting table is some what reduced now, see previous post. My plan is to work late into the night tonight and get this mess cleaned up for tomorrow's big reveal. It'll happen I'll probably be sore but it'll happen! ;-)

Everything that is stacked on the table WAS stacked against the far wall, BON, or I should say stacked up against the old cabinet and chest of drawers. I'll post improvement photos tomorrow.

Wire cages/boxes I'm not really sure what they are called they are really convient for corralling lots of little things. I'm hoping by tomorrow I'll be able to stand on the far side of my studio and see across the room! Right now it's looking pretty bad.

I've been working on my wet studio this afternoon it's in sorry need of organizing but it's also giving me time to ruminate over the questions in The Creative Entrepreneur and some of what I've just started reading in I'd Rather Be in the Studio. I'll post pictures of my studio later tonight.

John and I took the old dresser and cabinet, that I never used because they were always blocked, out of the studio and put my wire cages (you'll see what I mean later in the pictures) on that wall instead. It's about half full and I admit I'm glad that I have yet to run out of space! I now have space to walk around and have a place for my surface design supplies.

I've started some of the exercises in The Creative Entrepereneur by Lisa Sonora Beam. While coloring in my journal is a no brainer the questions are a lot harder to anwser than I anticipated. It's going to take some time to anwser them all -hmm maybe that's why it's called an impass in life?

The paint was still wet when I took this picture. Eventually I'll finish the writing, maybe in another journal the one I'm writing my business plan in, and will attach things to the pages in this one. Unlined Journal by Paper Chase.

I'm going to be brutally honest here folks because quite frankly I'm tired of the whining!

First of y'all need to learn how to cull works that are dragging you down like or not, while it MAY be your favorite piece, it does not do you, the artist, justice. And PHOTOGRAPHY speaks volumes about you, the artist, as well as your work.

Most folks are using all sorts of "props" when photographing small items and it IS the undoing of those works! Get rid of the props!!! Take good clear photos and if need be crop it in a photo editing program and get rid of the white areas! You DON"T need rulers in your picture, period! Get rid of theruler and put the measurements in your description! Take an inviting enticing photo of your work from various angles an, angles that tell us a story about the color, texture, shape, and form of the piece.

Go look at any number of shops on etsy that have sold hundreds or thousands of items ALL similar to yours, and ask yourself WHY are their works selling and why aren't my works selling??? I'll give you the anwser

Photography!

Third - descriptions some of you need to work on your descriptions, most are very lacking. Again go look at those shops that are selling hundreds and thousands of items WHY are their items selling and yours are not? I'll give you the anwser

Descriptions!

Fill out your policies, I do NOT buy from anyone who does NOT have their policies filled out, period!

Use some caption breaks in your descriptions so it does not become monotonous**************** and `````````````````` and ~~~~~~~~~ etc.,

Fourth - Tags and Materials Some of you are NOT tagging properly or listing your materials in such a way that puts you at the top of the food chain.

Fifth - Blog, website, FaceBook (create a Fans Page on FB) Twitter, Flickr, etc., are all places where you can CULTIVATE a following. DO NOT SPAM folks with your listings WE SIMPLY DO NOT CARE! What we want to know is YOU!!! It's all about you baby and YOU are your artwork! Put the purchase info in your profile links we'll look for it or ask if we want it bad enough! And if you cultivate your following in the correct way you will have thousands of folks wanting it and badly check out TheBlackApple to get a feel for what I am talking about.

Sixth - local art fares, business cards with images of your works on them, postcards, with images of your works on them. Make them enticiing, subtract EVERYTHING that detracts from the item you sell.

Again there are those on etsy that have had hundreds and thousands of sales to NON-ETSY buyers! WHY??? Because they have created a following!

I don't bother trying to sell in the forums, though I do visit them from time to time. I've created a following through my blogs, websites, facebook, twitter, and group lists I belong to. I sell more work off list, because they saw it on Flickr or on my blog than I do on Etsy. I use Etsy as a place where I can sendthe curious that want to see what I sell, when they are wanting more than what I offer on my website.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

As you can see the tension arm is bent upwards. I'm not sure if it can be replaced or not there's a little cotter pin on the back side so it should be replaceable, that doesn't mean, however, the sewing machine store will have parts for replacing the tension arm.

And it may well be my last one at that! I've been seeing all of these lovely hand made brooches from assorted scrap fabrics and thought I'd make one for myself, well... Lets just say I need a new bobbin race for my Janome 6500 now! The bobbin thread got tangled somehow with the tension arm on the bobbin race and is now broken! Luckily I had another bobbin race on hand to finish the top stitching but it's my spare for bobbin stitching with chunky threads. I'm hoping the bobbin race can be repaired as these parts are not exactly cheap these days.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Time and time again I'm called out publically on why I advocate using baking soda to neutralize my rust dyed fabrics! Here's my "edited response"

... rinse in baking soda solution once a year [Edited] Synthropol does NOTHING to stop the rusting process! If you'd like to slow it down and I can certainly understand wanting to do so then neutralize it once a year with a baking soda solution! That is why I recommend this step is because you are neutralizing the acids on the fabrics surface.

In conservation if we want to stop or remove "foxing" which most would see as either a rust spot or something akin to a scorch mark then we neutralize the piece or area with a baking soda solution. First the piece is washed in a pH neutral soap and if that doesn't remove the spot and removal is necessary then we use baking soda solution. Foxing is typically caused by linens etc., that come into contact with high acid woods such as cedar, pine, oak, etc., when they are stored in hope chests, dresser drawers, etc.

Some of us, that would be me, are eagerly anticipating the deconstruction of our pieces due to the rusting and composting processes.

If your piece is not too heavily rusted then and you want it on your bed then I say go for it! Just remember that anything it comes into contact with may also start to rust over time.

Yes your rusted piece will continue to rust, and eventually holes may appear in the fabric. NOTE that this all depends on where you live as in how high your relative humidity is etc. Rusted fabric in say Louisana will have a much shorter life, due to the high humidity, than say rusted fabric that lives in Utah or Arizona where the humidity is around 20-30% year round.

You can slow down the rusting process, though you will never stop the process entirely, by neutralizing the fabric with a baking soda solution. You can apply the solution once or twice a year depending on where you live. Those of you living in the desert may never have to do this step.

I recommend 1 tablespoon of baking soda to 1 gallon warm water. Dissolve well and apply by either spritzing the fabric with the solution using a spray bottle or by direct immersion of the piece.

Monday, May 11, 2009

I've been struggling with a label to put on my latest pieces, Prairie Potholes Harvest series, and was given a label today... Narrative Work. That's cool, I can live with that and it fits what I'm doing right now.

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

WIP No. 32 Now that my wet studio is cleaned up I can paint fabric once again, I made this piece today in celebration of having a surface to work on!!! 18x22 inchesSetacolor Transparent Paint, Shiva Paintstiks, Natural Muslin 7878

I started cleaning my wet studio last night and by this afternoon had made considerable head way in there! Now I"m organizing supplies, stretching my art papers which were stored rolled tightly for the last two years and finding my dyes.

Goals for this week, aside from continiually working in the gardens, is to start skirting fleeces. Once that's done they will be washed and be sent immediately to the dye kettles - lots of natural dye colors. Photos to come soon.

About Me

For the past 17 years I have been dyeing with natural dyes using local and sustainable materials. I teach surface design using natural dyes, rust dyeing, compost dyeing and other surface design techinques.